We were saddened to hear about the passing of Jan Petersen. She was the heart and soul to Barry Petersen, author of JAN’S STORY. I remember editing this powerful book with Barry. It was grueling, and I constantly felt as though I was ripping a fresh scab off of Barry’s heart with ever editing go-around. But the result is an extremely intimate look at Early Onset Alzheimer’s, and how this cruel disease is unlike any other because it leaves the body, but takes the mind. As Barry says, suddenly the idea of “forever” has an expiration date.

Barry Petersen, author of the heart wrenching Jan’s Story, is a Denver Post bestseller and managed to snag the #1 spot in the Paperback Nonfiction category. WoOt. If you know anyone with Early Onset Alzheimer’s, this is your bible.

Memoirs are a tricky thing because, well, we all have lives that many of us believe would make for interesting reading. And I’m sure there are those who would find your life an interesting read, but as publishers we have to look for the largest common denominator. That means many memoirs and biographies are rejected.

Since memoir and biography are our main focus, I thought I’d share some of the elements that may help you.

The Art of Reflection– It’s All About Me

The most common queries that cross my desk are writers who live through some event, or reach an age where they reflect on their experiences and decide it’s worth putting to cyber paper. These writers tend to have tunnel vision and fail to consider whether they have a marketable story. And why would they? Most aren’t “writers.” They are people who want to tell the world about their lives.

As such, they lack the art of reflection, which means they more than likely haven’t read any other memoirs because hey, “It’s all about me!” I say that without ridicule or judgement because memoirs tend to be trickier than other genres for the simple fact that each story is unique, right?

Wrong.

Since the writer hasn’t read other memoirs, he hasn’t given himself the luxury of comparison, of knowing what’s already out on store shelves. They write their cancer survivor story, blissfully unaware there are a gabajillion other cancer survival stories already jamming the marketplace – and no one is more amazed to hear there is nothing different about their story.

In their “It’s all about me,” the art of reflection failed them, and they had no idea whether they had a marketable story or not. The only way a writer can determine this is to read memoirs that cover the same kind of material. If you’re writing about cancer, a particularly overpopulated category, then you have to understand the elements that make your story different.

What’s the point? The “Who Cares?” Factor

This is a toughie because many writers don’t take a moment to ask this question. They’re invariably brand new to writing and are mired in “It’s all about me.” This is understandable because they don’t know how to think like writers selling to a marketplace. And we can thank Mr. Ego for that because he makes it tough to question our fabulosity with an objective eye.

In a word, we’re going in blind, so we may write something like this query:

I played the drums in orchestras and wrote some rousing tunes for them, learned to race cars, built and sailed a sloop, painted water colors, baked cakes, grew heirloom veggies outdoors and fruit trees indoors, built radios, ran a photo darkroom, taught myself to play the trumpet, made clothing, crocheted, learned the art of topiaries. Also a writer, I published a music textbook, two books of poetry as well as articles on home improvement, music and gardening. Oh, and I was a structural engineer, including the patents.

There’s no focus to this query, nothing that pops out and makes me think I must have this book, or I’ll cease to live. Instead, it lacks focus. The author basically threw up his life on this page, then sat back and said,”So, how’s them apples? Cool, huh?”

Well…no. There’s no doubt this gent has enjoyed a fascinating, fruitful life, but so what? I’m not saying there aren’t memoirs whose stories focus on, “Hey, look what I did,” but those “somethings” have to be pretty pivotal. Creating penicillin, curing cancer, the life of a rodeo rider, astronaut, or celebrity food chef.

There’s a point.

Many of us are egged on by friends and family who tell us we’re so wonderful that we should write our memoirs. If we hear it enough, we may let our fingers dance along the computer keys and create what we think is a great story. Here’s a bit of advice: Friends and family are unreliable sources. We love them dearly, of course, but they are far from impartial.

So when looking at your life, honor yourself and your story by stepping outside of yourself to see whether you meet the “Who cares?” litmus test. You can only do this by learning about writing, and learning the publishing industry. Shameless Promotion: Pick up a copy of Tackle Box…I wrote it just for you. If the gent above had done this, he may have decided that, yes, he had done a lot of interesting things, but maybe there really isn’t a story there.

“May you live in interesting times.”

We’ve all heard that, right? We think it’s something nice and positive. A blessing. In truth, its origins trace back to a curse and really means, May you experience much disorder and trouble in your life.

Gah. What a buzzkill.

However…it makes for interesting writing and some terrific memoirs. Why? Because it’s conflict, which is a vital tool in writing – be it fiction or nonfiction. If a story grabbles along all la-dee-da, where everyone is happy happy all the time, then I don’t see them living in such interesting times. It’s that disorder and trouble that make for interesting reading because we want to see how it all works out in the end.

For example, I’m currently editing a wonderful book by Ann Meyers Drysdale titled You Let Some GIRL Beat You? Annie is one of the most amazing women I’ve met in a long time because she put herself into the limelight – by no design of her own – because she simply wanted to play with the best, which turned out to be men’s basketball teams. This was during the 70s when women’s lib was rubbing up against the social mores of the time, so Annie’s exploits were played out in the media – much of it brutal. She simply wanted to play basketball with the best, and often outplayed the men. She had the nerve to shatter the iconic taunt of every childhood memory, “You gonna let some GIRL beat you??” Well, yeah…and Annie did.

One could say that Annie lived in interesting times. She was unwittingly breaking a glass ceiling because she loves sports. All sports. And many powerful people were trying to keep her down. THAT is what makes an interesting story. Because she dared to put her head down and not let anyone tell her “no,” she became an inspiration to many who found themselves in the same boat – be it sports, life, or the workplace.

So if you’re considering your memoirs, ask yourself whether your story involves living “in interesting times.” If there’s no conflict – which is missing from the example I used above – then what is the glue that binds your story together in a fascinating fashion?

And by “time,” I don’t necessarily mean a physical time, but a metaphorical time.

You’re the mother of a child with a congenital heart defect (Heart Warriors)

You’re the wife of a man facing certain death if he doesn’t have a transplant, and the only way you can get through this is taking the tough lessons you learned from being on the Ski Patrol (The Next 15 Minutes)

Your beloved wife has early onset Alzheimer’s and you’re traveling around the world covering breaking stories for CBS, and you grieve over how you’ll take care of her (Jan’s Story)

These are all wonderful examples of people who “live in interesting times.” They stepped outside “It’s all about me,” to reflect on the toughest question of all: “Who cares?”

Platform

Platform, simply put, is how people know you and why they will listen to you.

Are you the detective who wrote Off the Street? Are you ski professional who wrote The Next 15 Minutes? Are you the Heart Mom who wrote about her child’s CHD? Are you the CBS journalist whose wife has Early Onset Alzheimer’s? Are you the Hall of Famer who wouldn’t let changing mores about women in sports prevent her from doing what she loved most?

These authors have platforms – meaning lots of people know them and will listen to them. They are unimpeachable. And because of their platforms, I am confident about selling lots of their books because the genre buyers are looking at those platforms as well, and order books accordingly.

So it’s not a stretch of the imagination to say that when I look at a query letter, my beady eye shoots straight for the author’s platform. After all, I’ve written about it enough. It needs to scratch several itches:

First of all, do they have a platform?This is one of the most common reasons I reject a book. It goes back to the fact that the author doesn’t understand the industry, and has no idea how books are sold. Instead, they live on Writer’s Island and write their book, believing that “if I write it, they will come.” Problem is, they rarely do.

Is the platform established? Lots of authors have a platform, but they haven’t done much to get it “out there.” I once had an author whose platform was that he was a high school principal. It fed nicely into his YA novel, and he sold huge amounts of books in his hometown. But outside his hometown, he was a blank slate. There was no question the author knew his subject matter, but he hadn’t established his platform beyond his town. This made it a tough sell in other cities. I suggested that he establish his platform by widening his scope, say, giving talks to parents about what kids are really thinking, which would have fed nicely into his book.

How big is the platform? Yes, size matters. I’ll use the example of Kim Kircher, author of the brilliant The Next 15 Minutes. I knew that her platform was that she is on the Ski Patrol at Crystal Mountain, an explosives control expert – meaning she tosses bombs out of her backpack or a helicopter and screams, “Bombs away!” – and had saved lives and seen a lot of sadness in her job. Unimpeachable. Yes, she has a platform, but my job as a soulless creature of the dark was to determine whether her platform would attract a large number of readers. The fact that her husband’s family owns a large number of resorts in the US and Canada, and their name is one of the most respected in the industry, convinced me that a lot of people know them and would want to read her touching, brave, gripping story.

Does the platform correspond to the subject matter? I call this “The Crossover Effect,” meaning that the author is known within a particular audience, but their book won’t necessarily appeal to them. I had a query where the author was well known in the home repair community, but his book was about addiction. I had to weigh his platform against the subject matter. Is his standing in the home repair community strong enough to where weekend home repair warriors would rush out to buy his book? Perhaps if it was Bob Villa. I concluded that his platform was too far a stretch to appeal to those who would be willing to listen to him. It would be a different story if he had written a book about the perfect way to plumb a door. I’d have felt that way even if his book was about how being bullied led him to home repair because I didn’t believe his core audience would find this appealing in large enough quantities to warrant publishing the book. Time will tell if I made the right choice.

The most important aspect of platform is one of timing. If your query letter runs along the lines of “I’m gonna..” meaning that once you have a contract deal THEN you’ll begin establishing your platform, then I have to tell you that you’re too late.

Establishing a platform takes time.

You don’t wake up one day and decide you’re going to become the darling of the Reiki community because no one knows who you are. And just because you THINK the Reiki community is your intended audience, it may turn out to be the exact opposite.

I found that out the hard way when I wrote Donovan’s Paradigm. It’s a no-brainer that most docs detest anything that has to do with alternative/complementary medicine. I knew that because I’d interviewed many at great length. Their opinions are what helped me shape the ever-adorable, swoon-worthy, doubting pain-in-the-ass Erik Behler (yes, the company is named after him…long story). Because of docs’ feelings, I felt they were the last community who would read my book.

As it turned out, the Reiki community, and the alternative medicine community at large, ignored my book. I couldn’t catch a cold with these guys. It turned out, they want to read nonfiction. But guess who came in to save the day…yep, the medical community. Knock me over with a feather. Because I had talked to so many docs, word spread about my book. So while my platform didn’t include being a doc, many thought I was, and wrote me to ask what kind of medicine I practiced. Feather, knock me over again, please.

So a word to the wise, it is never too early to establish your platform. True, my book is a novel, so the parameters are different – but the sentiment is the same.

Believability

Hello, James Frey and all the other inverted navels who pulled one over on the buying public. Because we have writers who play fast and loose with the truth, I’m wary about being sucked into someone’s story. I’ve had all kinds of queries that purported to be “the only witness” to crimes committed by government agencies, court cases, espionage, and family dealings.

Many of them sound so fantastical that even the beagle raises an eyebrow. The problem isn’t only believeability, but the problem with verification. If someone tells me they were a groupie for The Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark Five, and The Beatles, and their book is a “tell all,” I’m gonna need some proof…which they can’t provide because, hey man, it was the sixties, and who kept records. But I was invited to contact Paul McCartney or Charlie Watts for verification.

Right. Let me get right on that.

In closing, Memoirs are fabulous things because we enjoy reading about the cool things someone did or lived through. They’re often inspirational, amusing, educational, and thought-provoking.

If you take the time to reflect on: why you’re writing your story, asked yourself, “Who cares?”, your story took place in “interesting times,” your story is believable, and you have an established platform, then I daresay you’ve met the burden of marketability. Now go out and be brilliant!

Fantastic interview with Barry Petersen, author of the bestselling book, Jan’s Story, which chronicles the downward spiral of Barry’s precious wife, Jan, as she reaches into the bottomless pit of Early Onset Alzheimer’s.

Early Onset is especially cruel because it steals its victims in the prime of life, sometimes as early as mid-thirties. They have kids still living at home, they have jobs – and so does their caretaker. And worst of all, Early Onset takes its victims faster and harder, which compounds the problem because their caretakers have to balance work, parenting, and caretaking. It’s a pressure that often breaks the backs of the very strongest.

And what about love? That “til death do you part” doesn’t have an expiration date. Your love is still very much living, but doesn’t even know you. Do you say goodbye to love at the prime of life? These are issues that Barry delicately handles, and I’m so thrilled this interview captured the essence of Barry and his book.

I remember our editing sessions – we did them on Skype so we could go paragraph by paragraph – and I’d get off the phone and reach for my Kleenex box. For Barry, editing was live tearing off a fresh scab and I hated having to put him through it, but I knew we had a bestseller on our hands and I wanted it right. The result is that Jan’s Story is THE go-to book for Early Onset Alzheimer’s.

I hope you listen to the interview. Chances are you’ve heard Barry’s reports on TV or radio and never realized it. His golden voice is as distinctive as his reports. It’s heartbreaking that he had to report on his own personal tragedy, but he has done the Alzheimer community a wealth of good.

Godspeed, Barry. Godspeed, Jan.

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It’s been a while since I had a #gratefulfriday post, and I’m overdue. To be honest, there are days when it’s hard to remember to be grateful. The economy is in the tank without seeming end, and this makes it hard for businesses to place any faith in expansion. As much as I’d like to hire more people, I have to keep my eye on the bottom line. Hearing from our sales teams about how tough it is out there in BookSalesLand is enough to have me diving for a pitcher of the beagle’s margaritas.

And yet, today I woke up feeling grateful because there are so many more good things in my life than crappy. Our books are selling, which means readers are excited to hear what our brilliant authors have to say.

Jan’s Story has sold roughly 25,000 units, and that’s something to celebrate because his readers are learning how different Early Onset Alzheimer’s is, and how especially devastating it is because it affects people still in the prime of life.

Kim Kircher’s new release Oct.1 came off with a bang. Her lovely review really hits to the heart of her book. I love this part:

“Is there a caregiver role for you in your future? Would you like to realize that you too can get through medical crises fifteen minutes at a time? Read the book. Kircher is no superwoman—she’s just one of us, but she chose to follow her bliss out of the classroom and into the mountains and then using what the mountains taught her to help save her husband’s life. He’s one lucky husband. Death is the background character here, lurking behind the curtain. No spoilers, but this is a story that will chill and warm your heart.”

I think she’s touching a lot of hearts with her message of living a crisis fifteen minutes at a time. We can handle any kind of Bandini for fifteen minutes, right? Reading Kim’s book, or being around her always makes me want to take up bullfighting or cat wrangling.

I’m equally grateful to Detective Chris Baughman and his fabulous book Off the Street. I have to say that I have never been so impacted by someone’s presence. Chris looks like someone you’d never want to piss off. He’s tall and built like a Mack truck. But he’s a poet, a Renaissance Man, as you’ll see in his writing style. Yet, his book reveals Chris as an avenger and protector – so much so, that I still pump a fist into the air whenever I read his book. His message about human/child trafficking is frightening because it’s happening right under our noses.

The idea that hookers are “bad girls” is ancient thinking. Our daughters and sons are being swept up into this mess. He spoke before 900 parents Thursday night with this message.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers president, Gay Culverhouse, taught me about concussion and their destructive properties. I remember how friends of mine suffered concussions in sports, and no one thought anything about it. We all kidded around about, “Hey, you really got your bells rung.” After reading Gay’s book, the very thought of my friends having their bells rung give me a case of the shudders.

Anyone with a kid in sports needs to read this book. Gay wasn’t just the prez of the Bucs, but she has her doctorate in Special Ed. The woman knows her stuff, and she showed that when she testified before Congress.

I could go on forever about all our wonderful authors because they humble me and make me grateful that I get to be involved withe their fabulous lives.

There is very little wiggle room with bookstores nowadays. They won’t speculate whether a title will sell. They want to know it’ll sell, so it’s incumbent on us publishers to provide our sales teams with solid promo plans. Bookstores are also looking to their own bottom line, which affects cash flow, inventory control, cost of returns, and traffic…meaning customers.

So what is there to be grateful about that? The fact that we know this information and can adjust our business plan to meet their criteria. And that’s why you should be grateful, too.

Rather than lament the way things are, consider the ways that you can adjust yourself to fit into that model. Knowledge is power, and success boils down to the way you choose to utilize that power. And because of that knowledge, writers have never had so many fabulous choices at their fingertips. This means that more people are channeling their inner creativity. How marvelous!

I’m grateful to each and every one of you for daring to be something more.

Glowing congrats to Barry Petersen for his Silver Medal Independent Publishers Award (IPPY) and a Finalist in the International Book Awards (kinda like a silver) for Jan’s Story. Working with Barry on his edits was especially difficult because I felt like I was constantly ripping off a very soft scab. Every chapter was wrought with boxes of Kleenex – for both of us – and he couldn’t get done editing fast enough. But I was a perfectionist, and because I loved this book so much, I kept hammering away until I felt it was ready. I’m sure he was ready to kill me.

But the hard work was worth it. He’s a Denver Post bestseller, and now he’s an award-winning author. I couldn’t be happier (or prouder) if I was twins.

Kim Michele Richardson’s book, The Unbreakable Child, also won a Finalist (silver) at the International Book Awards. Kim’s book has special meaning for me because I had made promises that I couldn’t keep due to the ineffective, pathetic, scandalous treachery of our former “distributor.”

After everything that Kim had already been through with her life, and then the implosion of her first publisher, I wanted nothing more than for Kim to feel safe, that she had a forever home with us. When our “distributor” screwed us over, my heart bled for Kim. She didn’t deserve this. We were damned if we were going to let her suffer any further. We got one of the best distributors in the country, and just this past week, got the chance to blab our hearts out to our sales reps in New York about what a fabulous books TUC is, and to make this backlist title a priority.

At long last, Kim will have what she deserves. And now, she can add award-winning author to her bio. Brava, Kim. I’m proud to know you and be a part of this worthy project. There is no book like TUC because this is about, not only Kim’s horrific life, but the first-ever monetary settlement paid by Roman Catholic nuns in the US as compensation for decades of institutional abuse at an orphanage. The icing on the cake is her open letter to the Pope and the ensuing reply.

Whenever one of our authors win awards or fabulous reviews, I always feel a warm spot in my heart, and remember the long journey from manuscript to blessed finished book. In some ways I feel like a momma bird, watching her babies find their wings and take to the air. Only then can I sit back in my nest and say, “Oh hell yes…we did it.”

Lynn Price

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(lynn-at-behlerpublications.com)
My secretary, an unreliable beagle, normally ignores the phone by pleading the opposable thumbs issue. She's really only good at three things; mixing margaritas, copy editing, and sleeping on the job.

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